


The Pride, The Pit and The Raven

by PhysicsNerd



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abusive Dursley Family (Harry Potter), Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Animagus, Asexual Character, Asexual Luna Lovegood, Awkward Romance, BAMF Fred Weasley, BAMF George Weasley, BAMF Harry Potter, BAMF Minerva McGonagall, BAMF Neville Longbottom, Battle of Hogwarts, Bigotry & Prejudice, Blood Loss, Blood and Violence, Blow Jobs, Bondage, Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Bottom Neville Longbottom, Bratting, Care of Magical Creatures, Death Eaters, Dirty Jokes, Dolores Umbridge is Her Own Warning, Dolores Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad, Dominance, Dumbledore's Army, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fred Weasley Lives, Gambling, Good Fred Weasley & George Weasley, Good Slytherins, Gryffindor & Ravenclaw Inter-House Friendships, Gryffindor & Slytherin Inter-House Friendships, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Harry Potter & Ginny Weasley Friendship, Harry Potter & Ron Weasley Friendship, Harry Potter Gets a Hug, Harry Potter Needs a Hug, Hogwarts Era, House Elves, Hufflepuff & Slytherin Inter-House Friendships, Jokes, Kinks, Kinky sex, Loss of Parent(s), Loss of Virginity, Luna Lovegood is a Good Friend, Major Original Character(s), Mentor Severus Snape, Metamorphmagus, Ministry of Magic (Harry Potter), Minor Original Character(s), Muggle London, Murder, N.E.W.T.s | Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests, Non-Canonical Character Death, Non-Canonical Violence, O.W.L.s | Ordinary Wizarding Levels, Oral Sex, Owls, Potions, Praise Kink, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Prejudice Against Slytherins, Protective Fred Weasley, Protective Neville Longbottom, Protective Slytherins, Pureblood Culture (Harry Potter), Pureblood Politics (Harry Potter), Pureblood Society (Harry Potter), Quidditch, Ravenclaw/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, Romantic Fluff, Rough Sex, Rubeus Hagrid's Hut, Scent Kink, Second War with Voldemort, Severus Snape Has a Heart, Shower Sex, Shy Neville Longbottom, Sirius Black Lives, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Slytherins Being Slytherins, Smut, Spanking, Starvation, Submission, Teen Romance, The Burrow (Harry Potter), The Ministry of Magic (Harry Potter) is Terrible, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, Top Fred Weasley, Top George Weasley, Torture, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Very Kinky Fred Weasley, Young Death Eaters, Young Love, Yule Ball (Harry Potter), hexes and jinxes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:00:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27200779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhysicsNerd/pseuds/PhysicsNerd
Summary: Defiance is a three-syllable word, and it has a hell of a lot of power when the trait flourishes in the right people. Of course, it seems only fitting that the Boy Who Lived found many of these individuals with a healthy proclivity for defiance, mischief, and all-around chaos. What happens when a Pride of Lions including Gryffindor's Weasley Twins and a Pit of Snakes including Athena Burke, Cora Crouch, and Vera Crouch team up with the Golden Trio for a multitude of adventures? A bloody good time.
Relationships: Fred Weasley/Original Female Character(s), Hermione Granger/Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood/Original Female Character(s), Neville Longbottom/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 21





	1. Diagon Alley and New Acquaintances

In Harry’s eleven years of life, he’d never had a more bizarre day than that of the one he was currently experiencing. He had met a certifiable giant by the name of Rubeus Hagrid, learned he was a wizard, been accepted to a magical academy, and then been whisked away to what seemed to be a parallel dimension where he was a sort of celebrity. However, he had no real chance to vocalize any of his concerns throughout the day, as Hagrid was intensely focused on bringing him to a place known as Diagon Alley. And so, he kept his mouth shut as he stood beside Hagrid, in front of a wall in an alley behind the pub known as the Leaky Cauldron.

Suddenly, Hagrid tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella. The brick he had touched quivered — it wriggled — in the middle, a small hole appeared — it grew wider and wider — a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight. 

“Welcome,” said Hagrid, “to Diagon Alley.” He grinned at Harry’s amazement. 

They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall. The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. “Cauldrons — All Sizes — Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver — Self-Stirring — Collapsible”, said a sign hanging over them. 

“Yeah, you’ll be needin’ one,” said Hagrid, “but we gotta get yer money first.” 

Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, “Dragon liver, sixteen Sickles an ounce, they’re mad.” 

A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium — Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Harry’s age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. 

“Look,” Harry heard one of them say, “the new Nimbus Two Thousand — fastest ever —” 

There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels’ eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon… 

“Gringotts,” said Hagrid. 

They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was- 

“Yeah, that’s a goblin,” said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. 

The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them: 

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

“Like I said, yeh’d be mad ter try an’ rob it,” said Hagrid. A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall.

HPatSS

When Harry and Hagrid managed to emerge from Gringotts a short while later, both slightly winded and nauseous, the sunlight and slight breeze was a welcome change. Harry’s eyes took a moment to adjust before they went back to scanning the Alley in amazement. Hagrid, however, remained ever mission-focused.

“Might as well get yer uniform,” said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions. “Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts.” 

He did still look a bit sick, so Harry entered Madam Malkin’s shop alone, feeling nervous. Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve. 

“Hogwarts, dear?” she said, when Harry started to speak. “Got the lot here — another young man being fitted up just now, in fact.” 

In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.

“Hello,” said the boy, “Hogwarts, too?”

“Yes,” said Harry.

“My father’s next door buying my books and mother’s up the street looking at wands,” said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. “Then I’m going to drag them off to look at racing brooms.I don’t see why first years can’t have their own. I think I’ll bully father into getting me one and I’ll smuggle it in somehow.”

Harry was strongly reminded of his cousin, Dudley.

“Have you got your own broom?” the boy went on.

“No,” said Harry.

“Play Quidditch at all?”

“No,” Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.

“I do — Father says it’s a crime if I’m not picked to play for my House, and I must say, I agree. Know what House you’ll be in yet?”

“No,” said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute. 

“Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I’ll be in Slytherin, all our family have been — imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?” 

“Mmm,” said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting.

“I say, look at that man!” said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn’t come in. 

“That’s Hagrid,” said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn’t. “He works at Hogwarts.”

“Oh,” said the boy, “I’ve heard of him. He’s a sort of servant, isn’t he?”

“He’s the gamekeeper,” said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second.

“Yes, exactly. I heard he’s a sort of savage — lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed.”

“I think he’s brilliant,” said Harry coldly.

“Do you?” said the boy, with a slight sneer. “Why is he with you? Where are your parents?”

“They’re dead,” said Harry shortly. He didn’t feel much like going into the matter with this boy. 

“Oh, sorry,” said the other, not sounding sorry at all. “But they were our kind, weren’t they?” 

“They were a witch and wizard, if that’s what you mean.” 

“I really don’t think they should let the other sort in, do you? They’re just not the same, they’ve never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What’s your surname, anyway?” 

But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, “That’s you done, my dear,” and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool. 

“Well, I’ll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose,” said the drawling boy. 

With that, Harry was left to finish his fitting. However, when he left the shop, he barely made it five steps before two bodies collided with him at full speed. A soft gasp left his body as he tumbled to the ground, and his eyes widened when the two figures let out horrified noises and reached down to help him. 

“Oh dear, I am so sorry!” One of them, a girl of thin stature with a matching face that was angular in shape, cried out. “Are you alright?!”

Harry swallowed and allowed her and the slightly shorter girl beside her to haul him to his feet. “I- I’m fine, thank you.”

The taller girl’s lips spread into a smile, revealing ever so slightly crooked white teeth. Beside her, the shorter one regarded him with cerulean blue eyes set in a rounder, more delicate, face with a generous smattering of freckles across her nose and the smallest of frowns pursing her lips. They were both blonde, with the taller girl having a golden sheen while the shorter one’s hair was platinum in color. 

“Are you getting ready to go to Hogwarts?” The taller girl asked. Harry nodded. “My sister here is doing the same, she’s a first-year too.”

Harry looked towards the platinum-blonde. “Yeah?” She nodded. “What’s your name?”

“Vera,” She extended her hand, which Harry shook gently. “Vera Crouch.”

“And I’m Cora Crouch,” Her older sister introduced herself, shaking Harry’s hand next. “Slytherin third-year and potions extraordinaire.” Her eyes suddenly locked on the scar partially hidden by his hair. “And you must be Harry Potter.”

His eyes widened and his hand quickly snapped up to cover his scar. “Oh… yeah…”

Cora and Vera both flashed quick smiles. “Don’t worry, we won’t make a big deal out of it,” The eldest assured him. “I’m sure you’ve had plenty of that just from walking down the Alley.”

Harry felt himself relaxing with each passing second, the nonchalance of the blondes casting an easy-going atmosphere over him. “Thanks,” He mumbled. “Are you two getting your robes?”

Vera shook her head. “We’re heading to Flourish and Blotts to get our school books,” She explained. “Do you want to join us?”

Before Harry could respond, a large figure approached them. The three of them turned and smiled at Hagrid, who let out a chortle at the sight of the blondes. 

“Well, if it isn’t Cora Crouch,” He reached down and clapped the older blonde on the back, nearly sending her to the floor. “Ye bin’ keepin’ those twins of yers in line?”

Cora laughed. “If Dumbledore can’t keep those two in line, I doubt I ever could,” She admitted before her eyes widened with realization. “Are you taking Harry to do his shopping?”  
  


Hagrid’s chest puffed out with pride. “Tha’ I am, tha’ I am. We’re ‘bout to get his books, and then ‘is potions ingredients and equipment, then ‘is wand.”

The two blondes looked between Harry and Hagrid for a moment before their smiles widened. “Well, we’re heading in that same direction. If you’d like, we can take Harry while you run some errands, Hagrid,” Cora offered. 

Harry could scarcely believe his luck. Sure, Hagrid was an amazing resource, but these two girls were witches who seemed to know everything about what was going on. And, they hadn’t batted an eye at knowing who he was. 

“Well, I suppose,” Hagrid murmured. “Jus’ keep ‘im out o’ trouble fer me, a’right?”

Cora and Vera nodded. “Of course, we’ll give him back to you in one piece,” The eldest promised before turning to Harry. “Ready?”

The boy grinned. “Yeah!”

With that, the two of them made their way over to Flourish and Blotts, a busy and rather loud bookshop with floor to ceiling shelves overflowing with books. Harry’s eyes widened at the sight, and he quickly pulled out his book list as Cora and Vera did the same. As he skimmed it, he wondered how exactly he’d possibly find any of the books in the store. 

“Harry?” He looked up at Vera. “C’mon, school books are in the next section over.”

She grabbed his hand a moment later and led him over to the shelves in question. In front of them, Cora was making her way down an aisle towards a placard that marked the third-years’ section. He stayed behind, however, and began pulling books from the shelves alongside Vera. 

“So, what house do you want to be in?” Vera asked as she pulled a copy of _“A History of Magic”_ from a shelf. Harry felt his face heat up as he grabbed his own copy. 

“I- um- I don’t know what the houses are,” He stammered, avoiding her gaze in favor of finding a copy of _“A Beginners’ Guide to Transfiguration”_. 

Vera’s eyes widened. “Oh,” She shrugged. “That’s alright. Want me to explain them?”  
  


Harry nodded eagerly. “That would be amazing,” He admitted. 

A smile appeared on the girl’s face as she led him further down the aisle. 

“Well, there are four houses at Hogwarts, and students are sorted into them based on personality traits,” She looked over and smirked at how interested Harry’s gaze had become. “First, there’s Gryffindor for the brave and chivalrous, then Hufflepuff for the patient and loyal, Ravenclaw is for clever and intelligent, and finally, Slytherin, for the ambitious and cunning.”

Harry’s eyes moved to Cora, whose arms were filled with books. “And your sister is a Slytherin?” He asked. 

Vera nodded. “I’ll probably be one too,” She admitted. “My mum was a Ravenclaw, though, and my dad was a Gryffindor.”

“I don’t know what houses my parents were in,” Harry mused. “I think they’d be in Gryffindor, though.”

“You’d be right,” Harry's jaw dropped at Vera’s words. “Your parents, James and Lily? They were both Gryffindors, and probably the bravest of them all to be quite frank.”

“How d’you know that?” He demanded. 

Vera’s brows furrowed. “Harry, you and your parents are some of the most famous people in the Wizarding World,” She explained slowly. “Especially after Voldemort-”

Cora’s voice cut them off a moment later. “Do you have all of your books?” She asked, her eyes slightly narrowed as they landed on her sister. 

Vera’s cheeks turned red while Harry looked between them in confusion. Who or what was Voldemort? Why did it seem like Vera wasn’t supposed to talk about it? These questions all came to a halt, however, when a new voice rang out from behind Cora. 

“Dear Lord, did you turn into Percy over the summer?!” Her voice was brash and came from a girl taller than Cora, with ebony hair and olive-toned skin and glittering black eyes in a mischievous face. “I thought you were better than that, Cora!”

The blonde spun around and gasped before launching herself at the other girl. “Tina!” She cheered. Her friend laughed and returned the hug for a moment before pulling away. “How dare you claim I’ve turned into that prat?!”

Tina, also known as Athena Burke, laughed in response and slung an arm over Cora’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, I’m just teasing,” Her laughter drew to a close, however, as her gaze rested on Vera and Harry. “And are these two of our new schoolmates?” She asked, her tone still light and teasing. 

Cora rolled her eyes. “You’re rather dense this morning,” She joked. “But yes, I’m taking Vera shopping today, and we had the fortunate luck of running into Harry outside of Madame Malkin’s earlier, so he’s coming with us.”

“Ah, I take it the illustrious Mister and Missus Crouch were busy today?” Athena mused. 

Vera nodded. “Terribly,” She agreed, her voice mocking while a smile played on her lips. “But Cora’s been doing a good job in their absence.”

Athena’s eyes then moved to Harry. “I’m Tina Burke, lovely to meet you,” She introduced, shaking Harry’s hand lightly. “I see you’ve already met my best mate, Cora, and her little sister, Vera.”

Harry nodded slowly. “Yeah, nice to meet you too,” He replied shyly. “Are you a third-year too?”

“Yep, third-year Slytherin,” She declared proudly. “Just like Cora, here. Now,” She looked over at the older blonde. “Are you almost done here? I need to go to the Apothecary, and you’re the only one I trust to help find the good-quality ingredients.”

Cora laughed and nodded. “We just need to grab the last few books, pay, and then we can go with you. Mind waiting a few minutes?”

The tan girl’s smile widened. “I’ll be right outside,” She stated. “Give me a shout when you manage to get through the crowd.”

With that, Athena walked away and left the trio to make their way over to the register. After a few minutes, the three of them walked outside with bags containing Feather-Light Charms and were quickly joined by the ebony-haired Slytherin. Harry walked with Vera, a mere few feet behind the elder two girls, and began eagerly asking her question after question about the wizarding world. 

“So, what’s life like for witches and wizards, before Hogwarts at least?” He wondered. 

Vera hummed. “Well, Cora and I are from a very old wizarding family,” She explained. “So we grew up learning how to brew potions, work with magical plants, and some other mundane things like incantations for spells, even though we couldn’t do them yet.”

Harry’s eyes widened. “That’s a lot more than I know,” He admitted before a thought struck him. “What’s Quidditch? A boy mentioned it when I got my robe fitting.”

He suddenly felt as if he could not have brought up a better topic. Within seconds, the girl launched into an animated explanation of what sounded like an incredibly exciting sport that the entire wizarding community adored. Harry listened intently as she described the roles of the Keeper, Chasers, Beaters, and Seeker, as well as the point-systems, and by the end of it his mind was reeling. 

“Come on, Vera,” Cora then interjected. “Don’t break the poor boy before he gets on the Hogwarts Express.”

“But Quidditch is vital!” Tina exclaimed, affronted. Her gaze shifted to Harry. “I’m on the Slytherin team, myself. Beater,” She elaborated. 

Harry nodded slowly. “So you handle the Bludgers?” He guessed, hoping to prove himself as not completely idiotic or oblivious. 

Athena grinned in response. “Correctamundo,” She cheered. “It’s a great workout, but certainly has a great potential for injury.”

“She concussed Charlie Weasley last year,” Cora added with a pointed glance in her best friend’s direction. “Left him in the hospital wing for three days, and in a sling for a week longer.”

The brunette rolled her eyes. “He’s completely fine now,” She chimed. “No harm, no foul,” They all suddenly came to a stop in front of a shop. “Now, time to get ingredients.”

Cora grinned. “I’ll take it from here,” She declared smugly, her hands coming up to rub against each other excitedly as she led them into the Apothecary. “I know this place better than the back of my hand.”

Harry looked between Athena and Vera, who both nodded in agreement and dragged him into the shop. All around them, dried and pickled plants as well as creatures, or at least bits of them, floated in jars and sat in glass containers on shelves. In open crates, piles of different powders and other such ingredients sat with large spoons inside them to scoop them into various receptacles. Behind the register, an elderly woman grinned at them. 

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Slytherin’s potions queen,” She greeted, bustling out from behind the counter to approach the group of four, stopping just in front of Cora. “I was wondering when you’d be here to collect your next shipment.”

“Hello, Moira!” Cora chirped excitedly. “Did you set everything aside for Vera and me already?”

Moira nodded once. “Everything your sister will need for her first year, as well as your rather wide range of requests, is being kept in the back. I’ll bring it out while you help those two collect their ingredients,” She explained with a gesture to Athena and Harry. 

“Sounds perfect!” With that, Cora turned away from Moira, who made her way to the backroom, and grinned at Harry and Athena. “Let’s do this!”

For what seemed like an eternity, Cora dragged Athena and Harry around the shop to pick out ingredients scaling from pickled horned slugs to the powdered horn of a bicorn. All the while she explained how to tell the good specimens from the bad, and by the end of the trip Harry wasn’t sure he could absorb any more information. 

Athena dashed out of the Apothecary first, her plants in hand, and spun around to face the others as they followed her out at a slower pace. “Where are we going next?” She asked. 

“Ollivanders,” Vera chimed. “Harry and I need to get our wands, and then the Magical Menagerie to get our pets.”

Cora nodded. “Well then, onward!” 

The group of four made their way further down the Alley at her cheer and eventually came to a stop in front of Ollivanders. Cora and Athena shared a look before the blonde ushered the two first-years into the shop. 

“I’m going to head down to Magical Menagerie, I want to make sure I can get Oliver's favorite treats,” Athena stated, watching as Cora gave a thumbs-up before following the younger two. 

Harry frowned confusedly at the mention of seemingly yet another person but was soon distracted by the appearance of the shop he had been pushed into alongside Vera. All around them stood floor to ceiling shelves that were filled to the brim with long and thin boxes stacked at haphazard angles. Dust and cobwebs covered nearly every surface, and he felt a very strong urge to sneeze, but it was cut off as a figure poked his head out from behind a shelf. 

An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop. Harry gaped at the sight while Vera took an instinctive step back towards her sister, who smiled at the man.

“Hello,” said Harry awkwardly.

“Ah yes,” said the man. “Yes, yes. I thought I’d be seeing you soon. Harry Potter.” It wasn’t a question. “You have your mother’s eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work.”

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy. Vera’s own eyes narrowed as his explanation continued. 

“Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it — it’s really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course.” 

Mr. Ollivander had moved so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes. Three pairs of eyes followed Ollivander’s hand as it came up to halt a mere inch away from Harry’s face. 

“And that’s where . . .” Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry’s forehead with a long, white finger. “I’m sorry to say I sold the wand that did it,” he said softly. “Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands . . . well, if I’d known what that wand was going out into the world to do. . . .”

He shook his head and then, to Harry’s relief, spotted Cora. His lips spread into a smile, returning the one the older blonde had been sending him throughout the bizarre interaction. 

“Miss Corinne Crouch,” Ollivander ignored the look of distaste the blonde sent at the sound of her full name. “How has your wand been serving you? Hornbeam wand with dragon heartstring, if I remember correctly. Yes, twelve and three-quarter inches, slightly springy.”

Cora hummed and withdrew her wand from the pocket of her robes, twirling it between her long, slender fingers. “It’s as perfect as the day it chose me,” She complimented. 

Harry’s eyes widened at the sight of the long, thin, and ivory-colored wand. The base was curved as if it were a creeping vine and arched in such a way that perfectly fit Cora’s hand, while the rest of the wand seemed to have thorny branches curling around it. Said thorns looked as sharp as those that were real and lent a delicate yet dangerous appearance to the wand. 

“And has it served you well?” Ollivander wondered. “Hornbeam wands are most wonderfully dedicated to their wizard’s sole passion in life.”

“It’s never failed me, and I doubt it ever will,” The blonde declared, her eyes twinkling with mischief as she thought about all the adventures she had taken this wand on.

Ollivander said nothing, moving his gaze now to the ever so slightly shorter girl in front of her. “And you must be Veronica Crouch. If you’re anything like your sister, I sense exciting things will come from you.”

Vera quirked a brow in response. “Given how often her excitement gets her in trouble, I have a feeling I’d bring down the castle if I did anything of the sort.”

“Hmmm,” said Mr. Ollivander, giving Cora a piercing look. “Well, now — Mr. Potter. Let me see.” He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. “Which is your wand arm?”

“Er — well, I’m right-handed,” said Harry.

“Hold out your arm. That’s it.” He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, “Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard’s wand.”

Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Vera giggled at the sight while Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.

“That will do,” he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. “Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave.”

Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once. Vera took a step back from Harry as the excitable wand-maker almost stabbed her eye out with a stray laurel wand. Behind them, Cora watched the entire exchange with interest. 

“Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try —” Harry tried — but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander. “No, no — here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out.”

Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.

“Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we’ll find the perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, now — yes, why not — unusual combination — holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple.” 

Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Cora and Vera whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried out delightedly.

“Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well . . . how curious . . . how very curious . . .” He put Harry’s wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, “Curious . . . curious . . .”

“Sorry,” said Harry, “but what’s curious?”

Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare. “I remember every wand I’ve ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother — why, its brother gave you that scar.”

Harry swallowed. 

“Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember. . . . I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter. . . . After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great.”

Harry shivered and looked over at Cora thankfully as she rested a hand on his shoulder supportively. He wasn’t sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand and watched as Ollivander turned to face the younger Crouch sister. In response, Vera’s bright blue eyes narrowed dangerously. 

“And now, for you,” Ollivander mumbled. “Which arm is your wand arm?”

Vera took a slow step closer to the man. “My right, sir.”

With a flick of his own wand, Ollivander’s tape measure leaped into action and the wandmaker himself shuffled down a row of shelves. Cora smiled as her sister sent her an uneasy glance. 

“Don't worry, it took me over ten tries to get my wand,” She reminded the platinum blonde. “It’s all worth it to get one that’s perfect for you.”

When Ollivander returned, it was with three wands in hand. Vera watched the tape measure fly away into a corner of the room, and carefully approached the wands until she was directly in front of them. Her eyes flicked up to Ollivander and then back down as she reached out for the first one. 

“That one is aspen, eight and five-sixth inches, with a unicorn hair core,” Ollivander murmured. Before the blonde could even have it once, however, he yanked it away and gestured at the second one. “Try this one, willow with dragon heartstring, seven and a half inches.”

Vera reached for it, but soon it was ripped away before it could even brush against her fingertips. Frustration bubbled in her chest, one that Harry recognized and empathized with. Cora’s fingers popped as she pulled at them, watching the exchange worriedly. 

The third wand ended up not working either, but it seemed that the fifth one piqued Ollivander’s interest. He brought over a wand as dark as night, with minimal ornamentation outside from raised dots of wood surrounding the base and a curved handle like her sister’s. Vera blinked at the sight of it and slowly reached out until it was firmly in her grasp. 

“Ebony wood,” Ollivander explained as Vera brought it up to look at it in the light. “Twelve and a quarter inches with a phoenix feather core.”

Light suddenly filled the room as Vera flicked the wand once, sending silver beams of light dancing across the walls and floor of the shop. Cora and Harry beamed and clapped while Vera sagged with relief, her own lips curving into a smile as she carefully passed the wand between her fingers. A few minutes and seven galleons later, the trio made their way out of Ollivander’s and down the Alley to the Magical Menagerie, where Athena stood with a bag of owl treats in her hands. 

“Oi!” Cora shouted. “Tina!” Her friend looked over "Did you find the right brand?"

Athena laughed. “Yeah, but I was worried you'd managed to get lost. You lot are incredibly slow,” She teased, elbowing Cora when she approached. 

“Very funny,” The blonde grumbled happily. “Now, let’s get in there, get these two their pets and some supplies, and then I think a visit to Fortescue’s is in order.”

The dark-haired Slytherin nodded and watched as Harry and Vera rushed into the shop, wide smiles on their faces. Soon enough, the older two girls clambered into the shop and watched as Vera made a bee-line for the cats while Cora and Athena went about grabbing supplies for their own animals. When Harry asked, he learned that Cora had a white, Scottish-fold cat named Napoli while Athena had a Great Gray owl named Oliver.

Eventually, Harry heard Vera shout his name. He strolled over, taking a cursory look at the many owls, rats, cats, bats, and toads he could see on the walls and stopped next to the blonde. She grinned at him and pointed at one enclosure in particular, where a small fluffy thing was stumbling into the bars of its cage. 

“What do you think of this one?” She asked. Harry looked closer and noticed it was a Ragdoll kitten and a cross-eyed one at that. “He’s adorable, isn’t he?”

“Are you sure?” Harry asked. “He seems kind of…”

“Dumb?” Vera supplied. Harry nodded slowly. “That’s what I like about him, he’s so silly.” She turned towards the woman behind the counter. “Excuse me, ma’am, how much for this kitten here?”

The employee looked up at her question and quickly glanced at the cage. “I’ll only need a galleon for that one, was planning on putting him down if he wasn’t bought soon. Poor thing is deaf and cross-eyed.”

Vera looked back at the kitten. “I’ll take him,” She decided. 

Harry’s eyes widened at the declaration, and he looked behind them at Cora and Athena to see if Vera’s sister would intervene, but she just sent Vera a supportive smile. With that, the kitten was bought and placed into a carrier alongside all the supplies they would need, and Harry was free to meander about the shop. Before he could even pick something, though, a short from outside garnered his attention. 

“Harry!” He looked over and his eyes widened at the sight of Hagrid standing just outside the window, a cage in hand that housed a beautiful snowy owl. “Happy birthday!”

Cora’s eyes widened, as did her sisters’ and her friends’. “It’s your birthday!” She exclaimed, as if only just remembering this. Harry blushed as the other girls began beaming at him. “I think that deserves some extra celebratory ice cream.”

Athena grinned at that and linked arms with Cora. "Wonderful idea, Cora!"

With that, they marched out with Harry and Vera behind them, the former of which dashed over to Hagrid and grinned at the owl. 

“She’s beautiful,” He whispered, his fingers carefully reaching through the bars to rub against the soft feathers coating the owl. 

Hagrid grinned. “I figur’d she’d be a good presen’!” His gaze then moved to the group of girls. “I see you brough’ your partner in crime, Cora!”

Athena laughed and waved at the half-giant. “Heya Hagrid!” She greeted. “How was your summer?”

“Not bad, not bad,” He stated with a slow nod. “Are you three off to ge’ some ice cream with Harry?”

The three girls nodded once and Vera extended a hand to Harry, who smiled before grabbing it and allowing himself to be dragged away as Hagrid told him where to meet so they could go home after they were done at Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. Within seconds, the smell of candy, ice cream and chocolate sauce washed over them, and they took a seat in a retro-styled booth. For the rest of the afternoon, Harry enjoyed ice cream with his newfound friends, who demanded he write to them over the summer, regaled Hagrid with the tales of their adventures, and went to bed so happy that not even the Dursleys could ruin this for him. 

He could only hope that Hogwarts would be just as fun.


	2. Ride to Hogwarts

Harry’s last month with the Dursleys wasn’t fun. True, Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn’t stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn’t shut Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything, or shout at him — in fact, they didn’t speak to him at all. Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with Harry in it were empty. 

Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while. Harry kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had decided to call her Hedwig, a name he had found in A History of Magic. His school books were very interesting. He lay on his bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn’t come in to vacuum anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice. Every night before he went to sleep, Harry ticked off another day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.

On the last day of August, he thought he’d better speak to his aunt and uncle about getting to King’s Cross station the next day, so he went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.

“Er — Uncle Vernon?” 

Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening. 

“Er — I need to be at King’s Cross tomorrow to — to go to Hogwarts.” 

Uncle Vernon grunted again. 

“Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?” Grunt. Harry supposed that meant yes. “Thank you.” 

He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke. “Funny way to get to a wizards’ school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?” Harry didn’t say anything. “Where is this school, anyway?”

“I don’t know,” said Harry, realizing this for the first time. He pulled the ticket Hagrid had given him out of his pocket. “I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o’clock,” he read. 

His aunt and uncle stared. “Platform what?”

“Nine and three-quarters.” 

“Don’t talk rubbish,” said Uncle Vernon. “There is no platform nine and three-quarters.”

“It's on my ticket.”

“Barking,” said Uncle Vernon, “howling mad, the lot of them. You’ll see. You just wait. All right, we’ll take you to King’s Cross. We’re going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn’t bother.” 

“Why are you going to London?” Harry asked, trying to keep things friendly. 

“Taking Dudley to the hospital,” growled Uncle Vernon. “Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings.” 

HPatSS

Harry woke at five o’clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn’t want to walk into the station in his wizard’s robes — he’d change on the train. He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. 

In the meantime, he also flicked through the myriad of letters his new friends, Cora, Vera, and Athena, had sent him over the summer. They had been full of well-wishes, advice for certain classes, and Harry couldn’t have been more grateful. However, a new concern had wormed its way into his mind. How would he get on to the platform, and where would he find his friends if he managed it?! 

These worries plagued him for two hours, at which point the rest of the Dursleys awoke and they began making their way down to London. Harry’s knee bounced frantically the whole way up, despite Vernon’s protests, and before they knew it they reached King’s Cross at half-past ten.

It was at that point that Harry discovered he needn’t have worried at all when he spotted a group of four girls waiting at the curb of King’s Cross Station. His lips spread into a grin, and he ignored Vernon’s mumbled insults easily as they loaded his trolley with his belongings while the girls approached him with smiles. Unlike when he’d last seen them, at which time they’d been wearing Muggle clothes, they were dressed in draping robes that he supposed were common to the wizarding community. 

“Harry!” Vera called out, waving excitedly. Harry waved back, catching the attention of Vernon and Petunia, who raised their brows at the appearance of the group. “We realized you might get confused and thought we’d help you onto the train.”

Relief flooded Harry’s system. “Thanks!” He looked over his shoulder at his Aunt and Uncle. “Oh, these are my friends, Cora, Vera, and Athena.”

Each girl waved politely at the Dursleys, but none of them said a word as they scoffed and settled back into their car before driving off. Cora winced as the tires screeched against the pavement while Athena rolled her eyes and Vera walked over to throw an arm over his shoulder. On his other side, Athena started pushing her own trolley towards the entrance as they all started making their way inside. 

“C’mon, Harry,” Cora instructed. “We’re actually meeting some friends of ours at the platform, they’ll be delighted to meet you.”

Athena bounced slightly as she walked. “Fred and George will have a field day,” She remarked with a grin. 

“It’s too bad Percy will be there to rain on their parade,” Vera interjected with a hilariously overdone expression of sadness. 

Cora rolled her eyes at all of them, but couldn’t stop herself from cracking a smile in response. “We’ll just have to avoid him like the plague.”

“Yeah and hope Harry doesn’t catch prat-itus,” Vera teased. 

Harry, despite having no idea who they were talking about, smiled along with the jokes and continued on through the station until they found platforms nine and ten. His eyes widened when their platform, 9 and ¾, was nowhere to be seen. Athena, however, pointed towards a barrier halfway down the stretch of people between the two trains. 

“See where that red-headed family is?” She asked. Harry nodded when he caught sight of the group in front of the barrier. “They’re our friends, we’re going to follow them through the barrier, onto the platform, and then get our introductions done!”

His jaw dropped slightly while they all continued walking towards it. “Through?!” He squeaked. “But- But it’s solid stone!”

Vera grinned. “Not for us,” She chimed cryptically. 

With that, Athena charged forward, maneuvering her way through the crowd easily and soon disappearing from sight completely, just as the red-headed family seemed to have done. Harry let out an involuntary yelp when Cora departed a moment later, vanishing through the stone after sending a quick wink at him and her sister. 

“So,” He swallowed loudly. “I just walk through it?”

“Yep,” Vera nodded. “Want me to do it with you?”

Harry shook his head. “I’ll just watch you,” He decided, wanting to do at least one thing without help. 

His friend smiled and didn’t say a word, something he appreciated, before sprinting forward and vanishing into the stone. Harry’s breath vacated his lungs as his eyes drifted over the crowd, his body tensing as he waited for just the right moment. Then, he found it. No one was looking, Hedwig was quiet, now was the moment. 

He turned towards the barrier and started to walk toward it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he’d be in trouble — leaning forward on his cart, he broke into a heavy run — the barrier was coming nearer and nearer — he wouldn’t be able to stop — the cart was out of control — he was a foot away — he closed his eyes ready for the crash —

It didn’t come . . . he kept on running . . . he opened his eyes. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o’clock. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it. He had done it. Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks. 

“Harry!” He turned and spotted Vera standing with Cora and Athena. “You made it through!”

He flashed them a thumbs-up and made his way over to them, only to be almost run over by two red-headed blurs. Cora let out a shriek as one of them grabbed onto her and launched her into the air, while Athena rolled her eyes and twisted in the other’s hug so that he fell to the floor. Meanwhile, Vera shook her head fondly. 

“Fred! Put me down!” The older blonde demanded as she smiled happily. 

“You hear that, Georgie?!” Harry realized the blur was actually a boy, and that the other one was his twin. “She wants to be put down!”

His twin groaned. “At least you didn’t get pummelled, Fred,” George pointed out. 

Vera scoffed at that. “C’mon George, you had to have seen that coming,” She reached out and pulled him up off of the platform. “Honestly, it’s become a sort of statistical fact at this point.”

George grinned. “And there’s our soon-to-be pranking assistant,” He cheered, reaching up to ruffle her hair. “How’ve you been?”

“Oh, I’m sure she’s read through all of our textbooks for this year already,” Fred teased, having put Cora on the ground a moment later. “Wouldn’t expect anything else.”

“How many times do I have to tell you-” Vera began. 

“You have other hobbies besides reading!” Fred and George finished in a loud chorus, the former’s arm slung across Cora’s shoulders while George crossed his arms and smirked at Vera. 

“About-”

“A million times more-”

“I’d say,” They stated in unison. 

Harry blinked several times as he watched the interaction, his sheer silence and Athena's soft laughter at his response garnering the attention of the twins. Their eyes widened as they took him in, from the tips of his trainers to the partially-visible lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. 

“Hang on a minute,” The twin, who he’d determined to be Fred, whispered. 

George nodded slowly. “You’re Harry Potter!”

He gave an awkward smile in response, while the twins whipped their attention back to the girls. 

“You didn’t tell us you knew _the Harry Potter_!” They cried out indignantly.

Vera smirked. “Well, we only met him a month ago! Besides, he’s not just a celebrity, stop gawking like you’re in Zonko’s.”

Fred gasped and made a pained noise as he clutched his chest. “The child has wounded us, Georgie!”

His twin nodded emphatically, causing Vera to pale slightly. “I think a little retribution is in order!” George crowed, only to get stopped by a smack upside the head from Athena. “Oi!”

“Honestly, you two,” She grumbled. “Your mother lets you run off for five minutes and you’re about to torture Vera.”

“Not torture,” Fred corrected with a scoff. “Simply… play a small prank on?”

“Say it again with a little more certainty and we just might believe you,” Cora teased. Fred pouted in response while George gasped, affronted.

Athena chuckled. “Speaking of,” The twins looked over at her. “Where is your mum? We want to say hello before the train leaves!”

The twins rolled their eyes at that. “I swear-”

“She doesn’t see us for _weeks_ -”

“We finally get over here-”

“And she wants to see Mum!” 

If Harry had had a hard time telling the twins apart before, it certainly didn’t help when they did that little trick. His eyes narrowed as he studied them intensely, but soon enough he was being ushered away with them and the girls. 

“Come on,” Vera urged. “You’re going to love Mrs. Weasley!”

Harry, who had no idea who Mrs. Weasley or either of these twins was, took to being guided through the crowds fairly well. It certainly helped that his friends were easily moving people out of their way, their procession almost as effective as Hagrid in regards to parting crowds via size. However, he was still unprepared to stop in front of a woman with a young girl, an older boy, and one that seemed younger than the twins. 

“Mrs. Weasley!” Cora and Athena cried out happily before launching themselves at the woman, who laughed delightedly and took the girls into her arms with ease. 

“Oh, hello dears!” The two girls pulled away from the red-headed matriarch. “How was your summer, you two? Fred and George were rather unhelpful when it came to news.”

Cora beamed. “It was lovely, Mrs. Weasley!”

Athena nodded eagerly as she spoke. “Yeah, and guess who we found when we went to Diagon Alley?”

“Who, dears?” Mrs. Weasley asked, her face becoming slightly worried and excited at the same time. 

Vera piped up at that moment. “Mrs. Weasley,” She moved slightly out of the way, revealing Harry to her gaze. “Meet Harry Potter, one of our newest yet bestest friends.”

Harry blushed a dark red at that but didn’t have much time to say anything in response before Mrs. Weasley bustled over, her three other children standing in shock behind her. 

“Oh, how lovely to meet you, Harry! I’m Mrs. Weasley,” Her gaze moved to Fred and George. “I see you’ve already met two of my boys.”

Fred and George rolled their eyes in response and made their way back over to Cora and Athena, who giggled at their expressions. 

“I swear, it’s like we’re next-door-neighbors sometimes,” George grumbled. 

Athena reached up and gently patted George’s head in reply while Mrs. Weasley continued to fawn over Harry, forcing Vera to join them. “Let her get all her excitement out, maybe then she won’t be on the look-out for any dungbombs in your pockets.”

A scoff resounded from Fred. “Like we’d hide them in _our_ pockets,” He muttered while slipping his hand into the pocket of Cora’s robes, George doing the same to Vera. “Honestly, Tina, it’s like you’ve forgotten our genius over the summer.”

Vera quirked an eyebrow in response. “You mean your ability to use us as dungbomb mules?” She corrected him. 

Cora grinned as Fred let out another dramatically pained noise and leaned against her despite being far taller. 

“Your sister is being mean, Cora,” He whined. “Make her stop!”

The blonde laughed. “You are absolutely ridiculous, Fred. Now, get off me or I’ll set these dungbombs off before we even get to school.”

Gasps echoed from the rest of the group. “You wouldn’t dare!” Fred exclaimed, his eyes wide and his skin a few shades paler. “You’re supposed to be the nice one!”

George snickered. “Have you been paying attention these last few years, Fred? No one in our group is the _nice one_. Might as well be an employee of the month sort of thing.” He paused. "Then again, Athena is consistently mean with the way she pokes us awake on the weekends."

Athena rolled her eyes. “You’re a big baby, George, if you can’t deal with my ambushes.”

Before he could retaliate, Cora quickly elbowed his side as Percy approached them. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the group’s least favorite sibling, and bane of their pranking existence ever since they’d set foot in Hogwarts. The boy, however, paid her no mind and instead launched into a tirade on good behavior. 

“Now, you two,” Percy began, “I don’t want to have to dock Gryffindor points because of your- Where are you going?!”

Mrs. Weasley spun around at his shout and groaned as Fred and George quickly sped off with their trunks, eager to evade their brother by any means necessary. A moment later, the girls sent her sheepish smiles before gesturing for Harry and Vera to follow them. 

“We should probably get these two settled and then find a compartment,” Athena offered as an explanation. “But we’ll write to you as soon as we can!”  
  


Cora nodded emphatically. “We promise!”

“Oh, alright, sweet girls!” Mrs. Weasley agreed. “Have a lovely time!”

The girls smiled. “Thank you, Mrs. Weasley!”

Mrs. Weasley waved as the group walked away, shouting goodbyes all the while until they couldn’t hear her. As they began boarding the train, Harry noticed that the younger girl and boy had rejoined their mother, whispering excitedly about something that he was just _positive_ related to him somehow. A sigh escaped him, and Vera sent him a sympathetic look. 

“Don’t worry, the excitement will die down eventually,” She assured him, earning a shy smile in response. “Besides, we’ll be too busy with school to worry about the gossip anyways.”

“You’ve got that right,” Fred piped up as he placed Harry’s trunk on a shelf, while George did the same for Vera. “The teachers might be nice, but they give so much homework.”

“Far too much, in our not so humble opinion,” George agreed. “Especially that greasy old dungeon bat, Snape. I swear he wants us to suffocate under parchment with how long his essays are.”

Harry winced at this description, but didn’t get to say much in response as Fred and George made their way out of the compartment and out onto the platform for one last goodbye with their mother and sister. The boy who had also been there was gone now, presumably on the train. With a hum, he plopped into his seat next to the window and watched as Vera took a seat across from him. 

“Don’t stress,” She advised. “You’ve got us, we’ll be able to help you through anything.”

His lips curved into a smile at her words and it only grew when she reached into her pocket and pulled out a Mars bar to toss to him, as well as one for herself. “You like these, then?” He asked while unwrapping it. 

Vera hummed happily and ripped open the packaging to take a bite. “They’re pretty good,” She admitted. “Not got much on wizard’s candy, but still tasty.”

As they continued eating their Mars bars, the train began to move. Harry’s eye widened at the motion, but a reassuring glance from Vera settled the nerves enough for him to relax and simply turn to look out the window. That is until the door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in. 

“Anyone sitting there?” he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. “Everywhere else is full.”

Harry shook his head and the boy sat down next to Vera, who waved once. 

“Hi Ronald,” She mumbled. 

The boy, Ronald, nodded. “Hey, Vera." He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn’t looked. Harry saw he had a black mark on his nose, but said nothing.

“Hey, Ron.”

The twins were back, and Cora stood between them. 

“Listen, we’re going down the middle of the train — Lee Jordan’s got a giant tarantula down there.”

“Right,” mumbled Ron.

“Harry,” said the other twin, “did we introduce ourselves?”

“Yes, boys, you did,” Cora interjected before turning her attention to her sister. “Thought you might want some of these.”

Vera reached out just as Cora tossed a handful of coins towards her, catching them with ease. “Thanks, Cora.”

“Not a problem,” Her sister smiled. “Now, we’d best get a move on before Athena comes looking and gets freaked out. You know how she is with spiders.”

Fred scoffed. “Like you’re any better,” He teased. 

George snickered. “Yeah, I thought you’d piss yourself the last time you saw one of those itty bitty ones in Transfiguration.”

Ron, who now looked quite pale, swallowed loudly. “There’s nothing wrong with being afraid of spiders,” He muttered. 

Cora grinned and elbowed Fred in the side. “See?!”

The twins snickered before winking at Harry. “If you ever need anything, just ask for Fred and George Weasley, we’ll take care of it,” They gestured to Ron, “Oh, and this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then.”

“Bye,” said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them, and Cora waved before disappearing from view..

“Are you really Harry Potter?” Ron blurted out a moment later. Harry nodded. “Oh — well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George’s jokes,” said Ron. “And have you really got — you know . . .” 

He pointed at Harry’s forehead. Vera rolled her eyes. 

“Honestly Ron,” She grumbled. “You’re completely tactless.”

Harry smiled. “It’s fine,” He assured the redhead before he pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared at it in shock.

“So that’s where You-Know-Who — ?”

“Yes,” said Harry, “but I can’t remember it.”

“Nothing?” said Ron eagerly.

Vera cuffed him upside the head. “You’re a bloody idiot.”

Ron yelped. “Am not!” He retorted hotly. “It’s just a question!”

Harry winced, an uncomfortable smile on his face. “Well — I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else.”

“Wow,” said Ron. 

He stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again. Vera sighed in response, the sound breaking the tense voice before she spoke. 

“Ron’s a first-year too,” She explained. Harry’s eyes widened.

“Are all your family wizards?” asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him.

“Er — yes, I think so,” said Ron. “I think Mom’s got a second cousin who’s an accountant, but we never talk about him.”

“So you must know loads of magic already.” 

The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about. Vera snickered. 

“I’m not sure about that, Harry,” She winked teasingly at Ron. “The last time he did accidental magic he nearly broke the oven, and most of the ‘spells’ Fred and George teach him are rubbish.”

Ron stuck his tongue out at the girl before ignoring her for Harry. “I heard you went to live with Muggles, what are they like?”

Harry grimaced. “Horrible — well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I’d had three wizard brothers.”

“Five,” said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. “I’m the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I’ve got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left — Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy’s a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they’re really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it’s no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I’ve got Bill’s old robes, Charlie’s old wand, and Percy’s old rat.”

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep.

“His name’s Scabbers and he’s useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn’t aff— I mean, I got Scabbers instead.”

Ron’s ears went pink. He seemed to think he’d said too much because he went back to staring out of the window. Harry didn’t think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he’d never had any money in his life until a month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley’s old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up while Vera stared at him concernedly and forced his cheeks to flush embarrassedly.

“. . . and until Hagrid told me, I didn’t know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort —”

Ron gasped.

“What?” said Harry.

“You said You-Know-Who’s name!” said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. “I’d have thought you, of all people —”

“For goodness sakes Ron, it’s not as if Voldemort’s going to jump out at you from the loo,” Vera muttered. “Saying ‘You-Know-Who’ doesn’t do anything for us anymore.”

“I’m not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name,” said Harry, frowning at the two conflicted reactions he’d received, “I just never knew you shouldn’t. See what I mean? I’ve got loads to learn. . . . I bet,” he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, “I bet I’m the worst in the class.” 

“You won’t be. There’s loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough.” 

For once, Vera nodded in agreement. “You’ve also got a whole entourage to help you out,” She reminded him. “Don’t stress.”

While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past while Vera began reading a book. 

Meanwhile, further down the train, Cora and Athena sat in a huddled group with the Weasley twins. In the center of their oblong sort of circle sat a box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, and grins were firmly planted on their faces as Cora pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. 

“Now, we all know the rules,” She began.

“- but some people need to be reminded,” George declared with a pointed look at his twin, who smirked in reply. 

“Dunno what you’re talking about, Georgie,” He stated dismissively. “Guess I’m just the luckier twin.”

“Well at least I’m better looking,” George teased, only to be interrupted by Athena. 

“C’mon you sods, let’s play!” She urged. “This train ride doesn’t last forever.”

“Okay, then!” Cora’s voice raised enough to silence the others. “The rules. You must take one bean at a time, you may not take more than one and then try to choose the best between them. If you get a good flavor, you get a point. If you get a bad one, no points and you must answer a question from one of the winners, truthfully. Whoever does the best will earn a cauldron cake from each of the others.”

The other three nodded in agreement, and with a quick snap of the seal, the game began. Within seconds, the four of them each held a bean, each with varying levels of apprehension. 

“Okay, hold ‘em up,” Athena ordered. 

They did as she bid, revealing a grey bean for Cora, a deep red one for Fred, a mucus-green one for George, and a purple one for Athena.

“On three,” George advised, eyeing his bean with distaste. “One, two, three!”

As soon as the beans hit their tongues, George and Cora made equally disgusted sounds at a variety of volumes. Athena and Fred, however, high fived and continued chewing on their respective grape and apple-flavored beans. 

“What’d you lot get, then?” Fred asked with a grin. 

Athena laughed as George hastily scrubbed at his tongue with the sleeve of his jumper. “I’d say goblin piss, but I’m not sure. Georgie’s never made that many different faces in thirty seconds.”

“Oh, piss off, Tina,” George quickly grabbed Cora’s water bottle and downed several gulps, much to the blonde’s annoyance. 

“Hey! That’s mine, you git!” Her hands clawed at his arm, ripping the bottle away and forcing George to sputter before she took a few sips. “To answer your question, though, I got belly button lint.”

“And what about you, Georgie?” Fred asked. 

George shuddered. “Troll bogey, had to have been,” He mumbled grimly with a yearning gaze sent towards the water in Cora’s hands.

“Had much experience with that, George?” Athena teased, earning a playful swat to the back of her head before she turned to Fred. “So, what should we ask them?”

“Ah yes,” Cora passed the water back to George after a moment. “What _scandalous_ information shall we divulge for this round?”

Athena and Fred shared a look before whispering to each other for several moments, after which point they grinned at their friends. 

“What kinks do you think one of our professors has?” Fred wondered. 

“You can pick any professor,” Athena elaborated. 

George laughed. “No problem at all, brother dear and she-devil of a friend,” Athena glared and flicked a bean at his head, hitting him right between the eyes. “Ouch!”

“Get on with it, George,” Cora advised. “We don’t have forever, you know!”

“Alright, alright!” He held his hands up in surrender. “Professor Sinistra for sure has a voyeurism kink, I mean look at all the telescopes she has.”

His blonde friend snorted, a bit of water spewing from her nose and forcing her to cough as Fred thwacked her on the back. “Jesus Christ, George, warn a girl before you say something like that.”

The redhead cackled in response. “I’ll do no such thing, thank you very much. Now, what’s your answer?”

“Oh,” Cora swallowed and grinned. “Snape is for sure into BDSM, what with all the dungeons at his disposal.”

Fred roared with laughter at that. “Better not let him hear you say that, he might start giving you bad marks in class,” He joked.

Athena rolled her eyes. “Not bloody likely, she’s quite the teacher’s pet when it comes to potions.”

“True that,” Fred agreed. “Also, just because this is true, I'm going to come out and say that Filch has a sadist side,” His friends and sibling all burst into horrified laughter. “I’m serious! Have you heard him talk about how much he wants to whip the students?!”

“Well, I’m not going to be able to look at him the same again,” George gasped between giggles.

“Why would you even want to look at him in the first place?” Cora joked, earning another round of laughter before they continued on with the game. 


	3. Arrival at Hogwarts and the Sorting

The Hogwarts Express was now well outside the city, and the countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills. Harry and Vera quite enjoyed the sight, while Ron was otherwise entranced as he rifled through the large collection of Chocolate Frogs they’d amassed. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door of their compartment and a round-faced boy came in. He looked tearful. 

“Sorry,” he said, “but have you seen a toad at all?” When they shook their heads, he wailed, “I’ve lost him! He keeps getting away from me!” 

“He’ll turn up,” said Harry. 

“Yes,” said the boy miserably. “Well, if you see him . . .” He left. 

“Don’t know why he’s so bothered,” said Ron. “If I’d brought a toad I’d lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can’t talk.” 

Vera looked over at the rat still snoozing on Ron’s lap. “Yeah, that might not have been the best pet,” She admitted.

Harry chuckled. “Vera, your cat is cross-eyed and deaf,” He reminded her. “I’m not sure you should be the one comparing pets.”

Ron groaned. “Please don’t let that cat around Scabbers,” He begged earnestly. “I don’t want anything to happen to him, Mum’ll kill me.”

His friend rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, my cat couldn’t catch him even if he tried his best,” She peered up at the carrier on the shelf above Harry. “Poor thing can barely move around on his own.”

“Sounds like Scabbers. He might have died and you wouldn’t know the difference,” said Ron in disgust. “I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn’t work. I’ll show you, look . . .” 

He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end. 

“Unicorn hair’s nearly poking out. Anyway —” He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. 

The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes. “Has anyone seen a toad? Neville’s lost one,” she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth. 

“We’ve already told him we haven’t seen it,” said Ron, but the girl wasn’t listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand. 

“Oh, are you doing magic? Let’s see it, then.” She sat down. Ron looked taken aback, Vera’s brows furrowed at the action. 

“Er — all right.” He cleared his throat. 

_“Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,_

_Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.”_

He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep. 

“Are you sure that’s a real spell?” said the girl. “Well, it’s not very good, is it? I’ve tried a few simple spells just for practice and it’s all worked for me. Nobody in my family’s magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it’s the very best school of witchcraft there is, I’ve heard — I’ve learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I’m Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?” 

She said all this very fast, causing Vera to look as if someone had hit her with a frying pan. Harry looked at Ron and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn’t learned all the course books by heart either. 

“I’m Ron Weasley,” Ron muttered.

Vera snapped herself out of her daze. “Vera Crouch,” She introduced herself. 

“Harry Potter,” said Harry. 

“Are you really?” said Hermione. “I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books for background reading, and you’re in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century.” 

“Am I?” said Harry, feeling dazed. 

“Goodness, didn’t you know, I’d have found out everything I could if it was me,” said Hermione. “Do any of you know what House you’ll be in? I’ve been asking around, and I hope I’m in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best-”

“Says who?” Vera remarked with narrowed eyes. 

Hermione frowned. “Well, everyone really. After all, Dumbledore himself was in it.”

“And Merlin himself was in Slytherin, as well as Morgana le Fay,” Vera pointed out. Hermione’s eyes widened while Harry grinned at his best friend and Ron’s jaw dropped. “Personally, I’d rather end up there than anywhere else.”

Harry watched as Hermione seemed to be stunned speechless as she stood from her seat. “Anyway, we’d better go and look for Neville’s toad,” She moved towards the compartment door, “You three had better change, you know, I expect we’ll be there soon.” 

And she left, taking the toadless boy with her. 

“Whatever House I’m in, I hope she’s not in it,” said Ron. He threw his wand back into his trunk. 

“She might just be stressed out,” Vera commented. “She said she’s a Muggleborn, so she’s probably terrified of being cast out or unable to function here. I will say she didn’t need to be so biased towards Gryffindor, though.”

Harry nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you, Cora, and Tina are all Slytherins, and you’re alright.” His eyes then moved to Ron. “What House are your brothers in?” He asked. 

“Gryffindor,” said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. “Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don’t know what they’ll say if I’m not. I don’t suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Hufflepuff.”

“Ron, we’ve been friends for years and I can say with absolute certainty you will not end up in Ravenclaw,” She teased, earning a soft punch to the shoulder from the redhead. 

“Oh shove off,” Ron grumbled, his ears turning pink. 

Harry shared a grin with Vera. “Now Hufflepuff, that might be an option-”

He never finished his sentence, though, as Ron pelted him with a leftover bean while barely holding back his own smile. Vera laughed at the sight and grabbed another cauldron cake as she leaned against the window. 

“What House do you want to be in, Harry?” Ron asked a moment later. 

Harry shrugged. “Not sure,” He admitted. “It’s a pretty big decision.”

Vera hummed in response. “Yeah, it can be a lot,” She agreed. “But don’t worry about it too much, you don’t have any sort of reputation to hold up.”

“Yeah,” Ron mumbled. “Not like us two.”

For a few moments, there was silence until Harry piped up again. “You know, I think the ends of Scabbers’ whiskers are a bit lighter,” he said, trying to take Ron’s mind off the Houses. “So what do your oldest brothers do now that they’ve left, anyway?” Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he’d finished school. 

“Charlie’s in Romania studying dragons, and Bill’s in Africa doing something for Gringotts,” said Ron. “Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don’t suppose you get that with the Muggles — someone tried to rob a high-security vault.” 

Harry stared. “Really? What happened to them?”

“Nothing,” Vera sighed. “It’s the first time in centuries someone’s ever broken into Gringotts, let alone not been caught. Bet that’s why it’s still all over the papers.”

Ron nodded. “My dad says it must’ve been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don’t think they took anything, that’s what’s odd. ’Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who’s behind it.”

Harry turned this news over in his mind. He was starting to get a prickle of fear every time You-Know-Who was mentioned. He supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying “Voldemort” without worrying. Across from him, Vera and Ron shared a look before changing the subject. 

“What’s your Quidditch team?” Ron asked. 

“Er — I don’t know any,” Harry confessed. “I only know the rules, none of the professional teams.”

Vera grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll make you a Magpies’ fan before you can say ‘Bob’s your uncle’.”

Ron let out a sound of disgust. “Not the Magpies!” He exclaimed while turning back to Harry. “It’s the Cannons’ you have to support, mate.”

From there, the conversation devolved into a muddled debate over whose Quidditch team was the best, with Harry happily listening to their conversation as he nibbled on a pumpkin pasty. They were just taking Harry through the finer points of the rankings when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn’t Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time. 

Three boys entered, and Harry recognized the middle one at once: It was the pale boy from Madam Malkin’s robe shop. He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he’d shown back in Diagon Alley. 

“Is it true?” he said. “They’re saying all down the train that Harry Potter’s in this compartment. So it’s you, is it?” 

“What’s it to you, Malfoy?” Vera drawled with a glare in the platinum blonde’s direction. 

It suddenly struck Harry how alike the two of them looked, but that thought flew from his mind as the boy, Malfoy, sneered at his friend. Harry’s eyes narrowed and he leaned forward slightly. 

“None of your business, Crouch,” Malfoy spat venomously before turning back to Harry. “So? You’re Harry Potter, right?”

“Yes,” said Harry. He was now looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards. 

“Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle,” said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. “And my names Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.” 

Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Vera smirked at Ron’s reaction while Draco Malfoy glared at him. 

“Think my name’s funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford.”

“Oi!” Vera snapped instantly. “Shut your mouth, Malfoy, or I’ll make you.”

Draco Malfoy scoffed. “You can’t cast any magic, Crouch, you’d be expelled before you set foot on the grounds.”

Harry groaned softly as Vera rolled up her sleeves and stood up. “Vera, don’t-”

But there was no stopping the blonde girl once she got going. Within seconds she traversed the space between her and Malfoy, her hand springing back as she did so before it collided with Malfoy’s face in a loud slap. Harry gasped as Malfoy’s head snapped to the side, a bright red handprint blossoming on his cheek. 

“You ready to shut up, now?” She demanded, glaring at the hunched figure of Draco Malfoy. “Or do I need to do round two?”

“I hardly think that’ll be necessary, Vera” Harry’s eyes widened as Fred and George appeared behind Draco and his goons. “That is unless these three only have one brain cell between them.”

“Filthy blood traitors, how dare you-!” Malfoy spat, but he soon paled as Athena and Cora materialized beside the twins. 

“Run along, Malfoy,” Athena ordered. “And take your…” Her eyes narrowed with distaste as she stared at Crabbe and Goyle. “ _associates_ with you.”

But Malfoy didn’t move, choosing instead to glare defiantly at the three third-years. Finally, Cora sighed and began rolling up her sleeves, much to her friends’ and sister’s amusement and Malfoy’s terror. Seconds later, a rather undignified squeak escaped the boy, and he took off down the hallway. Cora grinned at the sight and looked back over at Harry, Ron, and Vera. 

“Don’t let him get to you too much,” She advised with a pointed look at her sister, who blushed slightly. “He’ll just spout his nonsense about some wizarding families being better than others.”

Athena snorted. “Ah yes, we shouldn’t go about making friends with the ‘ _wrong sort_ ’,” Her fingers made quotation marks as she spoke, causing Fred and George to snicker. 

“Well, you certainly didn’t listen to that advice,” George chimed. 

Fred, however, rolled his eyes. "Of course they did, that's why they're _our friends_ and not Warrington or Pucey's."

Both Slytherin girls shuddered with disgust. "Ugh, can we continue pretending those prats don't exist for right now?" Cora pleaded.

Harry shared a look with Vera and then glanced down the hallway where Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had run off. “I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself,” he admitted. 

“You’re bloody right,” Ron agreed. “At least we won’t be a right pain in the arse like them.”

Vera snorted at that. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Ron,” She teased. 

Soon, though, the six of them were distracted by the reappearance of Hermione Granger. Her eyes widened as they landed on the two older girls, both of whom had already put on their Slytherin robes. 

“You’re in Slytherin?” She chirped excitedly, her eyes landing on Cora, who looked at her confusedly. 

“Um…” Fred, George and Athena shrugged as she looked to them for help. “Yes? I’m a Slytherin third-year.”

Hermione seemed to bounce in place as if she were a rabbit on a sugar high at this information. “Oh, I’ve heard Slytherin is absolutely wonderful, this girl told me all about Morgan Le Fay being in your house...,” She rambled with a gesture towards Cora's younger sister, causing said younger blonde and Ron to share a look. 

“Says the girl who was idolizing Gryffindor not ten minutes ago,” Vera muttered, earning a nod from Ron while Harry bit back a laugh.

Meanwhile, as Hermione continued to speak, Cora looked as if she’d rather be anywhere but there. It was this expression of sheer pain and embarrassment that broke Fred, George and Athena’s resolve, forcing them into a fit of giggles. Hermione barely noticed, however, until the two Gryffindors and second Slytherin began leading their friend away. 

“Well, it was lovely to meet you, but I need to go now,” Cora offered weakly, causing Hermione to frown slightly. “Hope you have a good year at Hogwarts!”

“Harry, Vera, Ron,” Athena called out, forcing the trio to turn towards her. “We’ll see you at the Feast, okay? Don’t be afraid to come find us afterward, too.”

The three of them nodded and waved as they disappeared into the next carriage, where Fred and George’s voices suddenly echoed amidst what seemed to be miniature explosions. Harry, Vera, and Ron shared a look at that and snickered before turning and heading back into their compartment, only to be stopped by Hermione. 

“You’d better hurry up and put your robes on, I’ve just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we’re nearly there,” She explained, her voice still rather high and mighty in tone. A moment later, her eyes narrowed at Ron. “And you’ve got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?” 

Ron glared at her as she turned on her heel and left while Harry and Vera shared an exasperated look as they took their seats once more. From there, the three of them went back to their idle chit chat and snacking until Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Hermione left their minds completely.

XXX

Another hour had gone by now, and when Harry peered out of the window he realized that it was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky, and the train seemed to be slowing down. His eyes moved to Vera, who stretched before standing up. 

“I suppose I’d best get changed,” She murmured while grabbing her robes before she exited to make her way down to the loo. 

Once she was gone, Ron and Harry drew the blinds and began pulling their robes out of their trunks. He and Ron took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron’s were a bit short for him, you could see his sneakers underneath them. 

Just as Vera returned, her own robes draping over her rather petite self, a voice echoed through the train: “We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes’ time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately.” 

Harry’s stomach lurched with nerves, Ron, he saw, looked pale under his freckles, and Vera suddenly looked somewhat green. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor. The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air and huddled closer to Ron and Vera in the crowd. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: 

“Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here! All right there, Harry?” Hagrid’s big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. “C’mon, follow me — any more firs’ years? Mind yer step, now! Firs’ years follow me!” 

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice. 

“Yeh’ll get yer firs’ sight o’ Hogwarts in a sec,” Hagrid called over his shoulder, “jus’ round this bend here.” 

There was a loud “Oooooh!” The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. 

“No more’n four to a boat!” Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry, Vera, and Ron were followed into their boat by Hermione, who remained quiet as she sat beside the blonde girl. 

“Everyone in?” shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. “Right then — FORWARD!”

XXX 

Meanwhile, traversing the grounds in an open carriage, Fred let out a happy sigh as he took a bite of one of his cauldron cakes while Cora, Athena, and George rolled their eyes at him. As per usual, the redhead had claimed victory in their Bertie Bott’s Every Flavoured Beans roulette, something he was endlessly smug about. His lips curved into a smirk as Cora quirked a brow at him. 

“Someone jealous?” He teased around a mouthful of the confection. 

An expression of teasing disgust overcame his friend’s face. “You’re ridiculous,” Cora reached over and pushed his jaw up till his mouth was closed. “Keep your mouth shut.”

“I may be ridiculous, but you love me anyway,” Fred shot back, glaring at George as he burst into laughter. 

“Nah, mate, any of us would be daft to pick you when I’m _obviously_ the more handsome twin,” He jested, his mouth parted in a wide smile. 

Cora and Athena shared a smirk before Athena leaned over to fall against George’s sides. “Oh, darling sir!” She cried out, batting her lashes in mocking flirtation to her friends’ amusement. “You are simply too good for this world!”

George laughed again before waggling his brows at his twin, “What’ve you got to say about this then, Freddie?”

His twin rolled his eyes. “Athena clearly needs to borrow Harry's glasses,” He remarked. 

The girl in question let out affronted gasps at his words, her mouths agape and their eyes flashing with faked irritation. Athena leaned across the space between her and Fred and smacked his knee a moment later, which was soon followed by a sharp smack upside his skull. On Fred’s other side, Cora cackled at his expense. 

“Oh you think this is funny, do you?” Fred demanded with a grin. “C’mere!”

“Fred, don’t!” Cora cried out as the redhead pulled her into a headlock and began ruffling her hair wildly. “Fred, lemme go!”

“Fear not, fair maiden!” George cried out. “I shall rescue you!”

From there, the group of the four of them dissolved into a pile of laughter and half-hearted brawling until they were so out of breath that Fred nearly slid onto the floor of the carriage in exhaustion. Athena laughed at the sight and lightly nudged Fred’s shoulder with the toe of her shoe. 

“You’ll need to work on your stamina if you have any hope of beating Slytherin this year,” She chimed with a grin. Fred rolled his eyes. 

“Oh please, we’re going to slaughter you snakes this year,” He boasted. “George and I practiced a lot this summer, I’ll have you know.”

Cora rolled her eyes. “Ah yes, but did this practice involve any of your summer homework?” She asked with a pointed look at the twins, who adopted wide-eyed, innocent expressions. 

“Well,” George leaned closer to the Slytherin while Fred popped up and kneeled in front of her. “You see-”

“We’ve never been the most-”

“Academically inclined, as you know-”

“So, if you would be so kind-”

“We would simply adore-”

“Your assistance with that predicament,” Fred finished with a nod from George.

Cora sighed as Athena sent them exasperated looks. “You can’t tell me you expected anything less,” She carefully adjusted her tie as the castle came into view. “These two wouldn’t touch homework with a thirty-nine and half-foot pole if they could avoid it.”

Athena nodded sagely. “Besides, they’re smart enough to get it done before classes,” Her lips curved into a smile as Fred and George let out horrified noises. 

“Tina!” Fred whined. “You can’t just-”

“Rat us out like that-” George continued.

“It’s very disrespectful!” They chorused.

Cora rolled her eyes. “Well, you two can argue about how disrespectful it is later, we’ve arrived.”

Sure enough, the carriages had come to a stop and the students were disembarking. Fred and George sighed mournfully as Cora and Athena exited the carriages and turned to wave one last time before joining the rest of the Slytherins.

Once all the students were grouped together, they made their way into the Entrance Hall, donning black hats as they approached their House Tables. Soon after, their Heads of House (aside from Professor McGonagall, who had left to deal with the first-years) took their seats at the staff table alongside Professor Dumbledore, who sat in the center-most chair. Athena and Cora glanced up at the table before looking back towards the door. 

“What are we hoping for?” Athena asked softly, so as not to be heard by their eavesdropping housemates. 

Cora’s eyes narrowed. “Slytherin for Vera, Gryffindor for Ron, and for Harry not to puke from nerves,” She decided.   
  


Athena nodded slowly. “I’ll make sure to have a bucket ready,” She replied jokingly. 

Her friend smiled at the joke but didn’t end up having a chance to reply, as the door swung open to reveal Professor McGonagall and the first-years. 

XXX

Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. 

Professor McGonagall led the first years up here so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver.

Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, “It’s bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History.” It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn’t simply open on to the heavens. 

Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool, she put a pointed wizard’s hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn’t have let it in the house. 

Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it, Harry thought wildly, that seemed the sort of thing — noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat began to sing: 

_“Oh, you may not think I’m pretty,_

_But don’t judge on what you see,_

_I’ll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There’s nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can’t see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you’ve a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You’ll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don’t be afraid!_

_And don’t get in a flap!_

_You’re in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I’m a Thinking Cap!”_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again. 

“So we’ve just got to try on the hat!” Ron whispered to Harry. “I’ll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll.” 

Vera rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Ron, if everyone believed whatever Fred said, we’d always be surprised by the truth.”

Harry smiled weakly at their banter, but it quickly faded as his nerves grew. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but he did wish they could have tried it on without everyone watching. The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Harry didn’t feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. If only the hat had mentioned a House for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him. 

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. “When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,” she said. “Abbott, Hannah!” 

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment’s pause — 

“HUFFLEPUFF!” shouted the hat. 

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her. 

“Bones, Susan!” 

“HUFFLEPUFF!” shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah. 

“Boot, Terry!” 

“RAVENCLAW!” 

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them. “Brocklehurst, Mandy” went to Ravenclaw too, but “Brown, Lavender” became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see Ron’s twin brothers catcalling. “Bulstrode, Millicent” then became a Slytherin. Vera’s nose wrinkled with distaste. 

“Hopefully I don’t have to room with her or I’ll-” She mumbled. 

“Crouch, Veronica!” The hat interjected. 

Harry smiled at his friend and urged her forward, worrying slightly as her normally pale complexion seemed to become sickly. In the end, though, she was able to make it up to the stool, where she scanned the crowd until her eyes landed on Cora and Athena. They both smiled and waved, which was the last thing she saw before the hat moved to cover her eyes.

_“Interesting…”_ The hat mumbled across Vera’s mind, forcing her to stiffen slightly. _“You’re just like the last two Crouch’s I’ve sorted. Playing the game by your own rules, doing whatever it takes, putting yourself first…”_

“I’m not selfish,” She thought coldly. 

_“Of course not,”_ The hat drawled. _“Just… “interestingly prioritized” if I remember your sister’s words correctly from when she was sorted.”_

“Then shouldn’t I follow her example?” Vera’s thoughts turned mocking the longer the hat spoke. She knew where she belonged, she didn’t need this. 

_“Indeed, indeed…”_ The hat trailed off. “SLYTHERIN!”

Cheers echoed from the Slytherin table, with loud whistles echoing from Cora and Athena as they waved Vera over to sit across from them. As she pulled off the hat, Vera took one last glance at Harry and sent him a reassuring wink before dashing off. Behind her, Harry took a deep breath to calm himself. 

He was starting to feel definitely sick now. He remembered being picked for teams during gym at his old school. He had always been last to be chosen, not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked him. 

“Finch-Fletchley, Justin!” 

“HUFFLEPUFF!” 

Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the House at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. “Finnigan, Seamus,” the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor. 

“Granger, Hermione!” Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head. 

“GRYFFINDOR!” shouted the hat. 

Ron groaned. A horrible thought struck Harry, as horrible thoughts always do when you’re very nervous. What if he wasn’t chosen at all? What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and he’d better get back on the train? When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, “GRYFFINDOR,” Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to “MacDougal, Morag.” 

Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, “SLYTHERIN!” Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself. To Harry’s amusement, though, Vera, Cora, and Athena all seemed to be rather disgusted with Malfoy’s placement.

There weren’t many people left now. “Moon” . . . , “Nott” . . . , “Parkinson” . . . , then a pair of twin girls, “Patil” and “Patil” . . . , then “Perks, Sally-Anne” . . . , and then, at last — 

“Potter, Harry!” 

As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall. His eyes darted across the crowd desperately until they landed on Vera, who gave him a quick thumbs-up before mouthing some reassuring statement at him. Meanwhile, the whispers grew louder as he sat on the stool. 

“Potter, did she say?” 

“The Harry Potter?” 

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him, in which he could just barely make out Cora and Athena's faces as well. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited. 

“ _Hmm_ ,” said a small voice in his ear. “ _Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There’s talent, oh my goodness, yes — and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that’s interesting. . . . So where shall I put you_?” 

Harry gripped the edges of the stool, his mind a bubbling cauldron of chaos. As much as he wanted to be with his friends, the idea of being with all the horrid-looking and equally terribly acting people in Slytherin gave him pause. Finally, he thought to himself frantically, ‘not Slytherin, not Slytherin’. 

“ _Not Slytherin, eh?_ ” said the small voice. “ _Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that — no? Well, if you’re sure — better be…_ GRYFFINDOR!” 

Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table, checking to see his friends’ expressions and nearly collapsing to see them all cheering for him. He was so relieved to have been chosen, not put in Slytherin, _and_ not hated by his friends, he hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, “We got Potter! We got Potter!” 

Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff he’d seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, giving Harry the sudden, horrible feeling he’d just plunged it into a bucket of ice-cold water. He could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs up. Harry grinned back. And there, in the center of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Harry recognized him at once from the card he’d gotten out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore’s silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. Harry spotted Professor Quirrell, too, the nervous young man from the Leaky Cauldron. He was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban. 

And now there were only four people left to be sorted. “Thomas, Dean,” a Black boy even taller than Ron, joined Harry at the Gryffindor table. “Turpin, Lisa,” became a Ravenclaw, and then it was Ron’s turn. He was pale green by now. Harry crossed his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, 

“GRYFFINDOR!” Harry clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to him. 

“Well done, Ron, excellent,” said Percy Weasley pompously across Harry as “Zabini, Blaise,” was made a Slytherin. 

Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away. Harry looked down at his empty gold plate. He had only just realized how hungry he was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago. Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there. 

“Welcome!” he said. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!” 

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn’t know whether to laugh or not. “Is he — a bit mad?” he asked Percy uncertainly. 

“Mad?” said Percy airily. “He’s a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?” 

Harry’s mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs. 

The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry, but he’d never been allowed to eat as much as he liked. Dudley had always taken anything that Harry really wanted, even if it made him sick. Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything except the peppermints and began to eat. It was all delicious. 

“That does look good,” said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak. 

“Can’t you — ?” 

“I haven’t eaten for nearly five hundred years,” said the ghost. “I don’t need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don’t think I’ve introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower.” 

“I know who you are!” said Ron suddenly. “My brothers told me about you — you’re Nearly Headless Nick!” 

“I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy —” the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted. 

“Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?” 

Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn’t going at all the way he wanted. “Like this,” he said irritably. 

He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased with the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck and coughed before continuing on. 

“So — new Gryffindors! I hope you’re going to help us win the House Championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron’s becoming almost unbearable — he’s the Slytherin ghost.” 

Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy who, Harry was pleased to see, didn’t look too pleased with the seating arrangements. 

“How did he get covered in blood?” asked Seamus with great interest. 

“I’ve never asked,” said Nearly Headless Nick delicately. 

Harry’s curiosity buzzed at that, and he looked over at the Slytherin table as if to somehow glean answers by simply looking at the ghost. What happened instead, was that Vera caught his eyes with a wave followed by a grin. He grinned back and turned his attention back to his food while Vera continued talking to Cora and Athena. 

“So, what will I need to worry about most with classes?” Vera asked as she ate a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

Athena and Cora shared a look before replying. “Bias, for sure,” Her sister answered. 

“Yep, don’t expect many of the teachers aside from Snape to call on you, let alone give you points,” Athena admitted. “There’s a lot of stupidity to unpack there, but it all boils down to our interesting reputation.”

Vera groaned. “That’s ridiculous,” She grumbled, her spoon now acting as a dagger with which to stab her potatoes. “Anything else?”

“Read through Snape’s textbook, back to front, at least twice before his class,” Cora advised. “It’ll get you off on the right foot, especially since you’re using my books for the actual brewing.”

Athena rolled her eyes. “You’re a lucky kid, you know?” She griped. “Anyone here would kill for your sister’s potions notes.”

Cora took a sip of pumpkin juice. “So would most of the student body for your astronomy notes, Tina,” She reminded her friend. “Besides, I always shared my notes.”

“That is true,” Athena admitted. “Now, you also want to make sure you get people to do your work with, otherwise you’ll get so bored you can barely keep your eyes open.”

Vera nodded and finished off her dinner just as the desserts appeared. “So, Harry and Ron?” She guessed. 

“That’s a good start,” Cora agreed. “But don’t be afraid to join us either, we’ve probably got more than enough knowledge to help you three too.”

“But we’ll need payment,” Athena teased. “Perhaps some of your chocoballs?”

The younger blonde gasped, jokingly horrified. “Absolutely not!” Her lips then curved into a smirk. “Unless you want to give me some acid pops in exchange?”  
  


Athena hissed. “You drive a hard bargain,” She reached up and stroked a non-existent beard. “I shall have to report back after an appraisal of my wares.”

“Well, while you do that,” Cora interjected, “One more thing.” Vera looked over. “You can sit at other House Tables, but don’t bring your friends here. That’s asking to be caught in the crossfire of a prank or be endlessly insulted by our housemates.”

Vera nodded slowly. “And what types of pranks are we talking about here?” She asked slowly.

Cora and Athena shared a mischievous look at that before looking up to make eye-contact with Fred and George, who winked. “Pranks of the highest quality, we can assure you,” They declared. 

XXX

At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent. 

“Ahem — just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.” 

Dumbledore’s twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins. 

“I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.” 

Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did. “He’s not serious?” he muttered to Percy. 

“Must be,” said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. “It’s odd because he usually gives us a reason why we’re not allowed to go somewhere — the forest’s full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least.” 

“And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!” cried Dumbledore. 

Harry noticed that the other teachers’ smiles had become rather fixed. Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words. 

“Everyone pick their favorite tune,” said Dumbledore, “and off we go!” 

_“Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

_Teach us something please,_

_Whether we be old and bald_

_Or young with scabby knees,_

_Our heads could do with filling_

_With some interesting stuff,_

_For now they’re bare and full of air,_

_Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

_So teach us things worth knowing,_

_Bring back what we’ve forgot,_

_Just do your best, we’ll do the rest,_

_And learn until our brains all rot.”_

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, the Weasley twins, Cora, Vera, and Athena were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest. 

“Ah, music,” he said, wiping his eyes. “A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!”

With that, the students dispersed into their four separate Houses and took off in every different direction towards their new home for the next school year. 


	4. First Day

When the following morning dawned, revealing a brisk and sunny Monday, Harry realized he hadn’t slept a wink. Instead, he had spent most of the night looking out the windows at the dark landscape, flipping through the crinkled, yellow pages of his textbooks, and wondering what his new classes would be like. Now that the sun was up, though, he could finally find out.

So, with heavy amounts of excitement and anxiety brewing in his stomach, Harry leaped from his bed and quickly roused Ron, who grumbled irritably before rising from his own bed. Within minutes the two of them were ready to depart, their school bags in hand and their roommates only just beginning to wake as well. In fact, the only other people that seemed to be awake were Fred and George, who ducked out of the portrait hole just as Harry and Ron arrived in the Common Room. Outside, they heard snippets of conversation. 

“Did you see Harry or Ron?”

“Relax, Cora,” Fred’s voice echoed. 

“Yeah, they’re probably sleeping in,” George added. 

Athena’s grumblings were loud and clear from behind the portrait. “I would’ve slept in too if  _ somebody _ hadn’t decided to wake up at the crack of dawn.”

“Don’t worry,” Cora’s voice resounded once more. “You’ll feel better once you’ve had coffee. Now, let’s go.”

“You guys go ahead,” Vera piped up, “I’m going to wait for Harry and Ron.”

The two first-year boys rushed out before the third-years could walk down to breakfast, eliciting a grin from their respective friends and siblings. Vera immediately moved to stand on Harry’s other side, her arm sliding across his shoulders as a lazy grin stretched across her face. 

“How are we feeling this morning, boys?” Fred and George asked in unison, turning to look over their shoulders as they started walking. 

Harry and Ron each shared a look before squeaking out a “Fine!” and “Hungry…” respectively. 

Cora smiled. “Don’t worry, Harry. Your first day is rarely that difficult, and there are plenty of people to help you get through it.”

“Just don’t go to Percy,” Athena advised. “He’s a right prat, and a know it all to boot.”

“Agreed,” Vera nodded. “I’ve been to enough visits at the Burrow to attest to that.”

Harry frowned confusedly. “The Burrow?”

“Our house,” Fred, George and Ron all answered simultaneously.

Cora and Athena shared wide grins. “We’ll bring you over next summer,” They vowed.

“It’s the best place ever,” Vera agreed with a wink sent to the twins, who winked back with their own mischievous smirks. “More like home than any of our families’ elegant manors.”

Ron gave an overexaggerated nod of agreement, a slight expression of disgust on his face. “Those places are like Ginny's doll houses,” He griped. “Can’t really live in them bloody display cases.”

“Well, don’t worry, Ronald, you won’t have to go to one anytime soon,” Athena assured the ginger boy. “Not with our ridiculous parents.”

“And uncle,” George chimed with a pointed glance at Cora, who rolled her eyes. 

“Yes, George, my uncle is crazy too,” She sighed as they continued walking down the stone corridors of Hogwarts. Harry frowned at the description, and looked to Vera to inquire further, but was soon cut off by Cora again. “But enough about him, I say we take up residence at the Gryffindor table for a well-deserved breakfast.”

“And coffee!” Athena declared loudly.

With that, the group burst into giggles and sped up until they arrived at the entrance to the Great Hall, where the four House Tables sat, laden with food and beverages. At each table, students sat in small pods, whispering over gold plates of delicious food and the occasional stack of books in the Ravenclaws’ case. 

“It’s the first bloody day!” Fred exclaimed incredulously as their group took a seat at the Gryffindor table. “How can they have anything remotely academic to talk about?”

“Well, brother,” George began. “Some of us have more brain cells than your collective two.”

Athena snorted as she poured herself a goblet of coffee. “And yet you somehow act just as stupid as your twin, Georgie.”

George’s jaw dropped and his head jerked toward the three first years across the table from him. “Do you hear this, children?!” He demanded. “They dare impugn my honor!”

Harry snickered at the flamboyant behavior George displayed, while Vera rolled her eyes fondly and Ron ignored all of them in favor of stacking more and more sausages on his plate. It hadn’t occurred to him that one could have this much fun at a meal, this much friendly banter and smiling. He really liked it, he realized. He enjoyed having friends, people to sit with, people who didn’t treat him like an unwanted slug in the garden. So, he prepared himself a plate and tilted his head toward the ongoing conversation between the third and first-years. 

“No, Fred, you can’t copy whatever homework we get this week,” Cora informed him patiently while pouring a goblet of pumpkin juice for herself. “I’m not about to do both your work and mine.”

Athena grinned. “And yet you want my Astronomy notes?” She questioned sweetly. 

The blonde blushed. “You’re my sister from another mister,” She defended quickly, a grin appearing on her lips. “We’ll always exchange answers.”

George scoffed. “So, what, I get stuck with the dud twin and no homework help?” He asked, a teasing smile on his face as Fred lightly thwacked him on the arm. 

“Unfortunately,” Cora and Athena chorused. 

The twins then looked over at Harry and Ron. “You’d best hope your resident Snake will be willing to help you with work,” They sighed mournfully. 

Vera chuckled and took a bite of her eggs. “I hope they’re prepared for disappointment,” She replied without a second glance. 

“Oi!” Ron shouted around a mouthful of sausage. “Tha’s not fair!”

“I think you’ll find it’s perfectly fair,” A high, familiarly snotty, voice chorused from behind Ron. The group turned to see Hermione standing there. “You’ll need to do your own work, you know.”

“And they will,” Athena interjected, a stern look in her eyes. 

Normally, she could be forgiving with first-years. They didn’t know their way around, they could be full of themselves, but this girl was something else. This girl seemed content to make everyone her enemy just so she could be right, so she could have the last word. And Athena knew it would get her in trouble soon enough. 

She tensed as Cora’s knee knocked against hers, and bit her tongue as the blonde smiled sweetly at Hermione. “Don’t worry, they’ll do what they need to do,” Cora assured the bushy-haired child. 

With that, Hermione seemed assuaged enough to walk away to a spot further down the table. Once she was out of earshot, Ron leaned in to whisper in Harry’s ear. 

“She’s going to be a right nightmare in class, I bet,” He muttered. 

Harry nodded, but made no comment. With that, their conversations turned to lighter topic, and the group only separated when the third-years stood to go to Herbology. 

XXX

When the four third-years arrived at the greenhouse, they were unsurprised to see the rest of the students in their year donning the traditional robes, aprons and work boots, and quickly joined in as Professor Sprout made her way into the room. Fred and Cora broke off from Athena and George a moment later, taking their usual spots towards the end of the trestle bench. 

“I’m surprised we’re not switching it up,” Cora murmured as she adjusted a pair of gloves on her hands.

Fred scoffed. “Are you kidding me?” He grinned and threw an arm over her shoulder. “You need me to make sure you don’t fail this class horribly.”

Cora rolled her eyes and quickly elbowed Fred’s side. “Keep that up and I really won’t help you at all this year,” She vowed. 

“Oh please,” George piped up from Athena’s side. “You’ll help him, you’ll just make hi work for it.”

Athena grinned. “As she should,” She piped up before Professor Sprout tapped a spade against a large pot, the echoing clang garnering the class’ attention. 

“Welcome back, students,” She called out, a kind smile on her round face. “Now, I hope you all had a wonderful summer holiday, and that you’re ready for a bit of revision. We’ll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?” 

To nobody’s surprise, Cedric Diggory’s hand was first into the air. 

“Mandrake, or Mandragora, is an extremely strong restorative,” Cedric explained, sounding as confident as the pretty boy usually was. “It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their former selves.” 

“Excellent. Ten points to Hufflepuff,” said Professor Sprout, a proud smile on her face while Fred and Geroge looked as if they’d each swallowed a lemon. “The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, very, very dangerous to handle. Who can tell me why?” 

Athena’s hand narrowly missed George’s ear as it shot up. “The shrieking of a mature Mandrake is fatal to anyone who happens to hear its cries,” she said promptly. 

“Precisely. Take ten points for Slytherin, Miss Burke,” said Professor Sprout. “Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young, so their cries cannot kill you yet. However, they can cause a loss of consciousness, so it is incredibly important we are safe while handling them.” 

She pointed to a row of deep trays as she spoke, and everyone shuffled forward for a better look. A hundred or so tufty little plants, purplish green in color, were growing there in rows. They looked quite unremarkable to Harry, who didn’t have the slightest idea what Hermione meant by the “cry” of the Mandrake. 

“Everyone take a pair of earmuffs,” said Professor Sprout as she opened a crate full of fluffy, mitten-like objects. 

There was a scramble as everyone tried to seize a pair that wasn’t pink and fluffy. In the end, Athena and Cora shared a grin as they held up their matching black earmuffs, while George held a pair of ultraviolet purple ones and Fred a magenta set.

“When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered,” said Professor Sprout. “When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs-up. Right — earmuffs on.” 

Cora snapped the earmuffs over her ears. They shut out sound completely, except for the loud shouts of Professor Sprout as she continued giving instructions. A moment later, Professor Sprout put the pink, fluffy pair over her own ears, rolled up the sleeves of her robes, grasped one of the tufty plants firmly, and pulled hard. 

The class let out a gasp of surprise that no one could hear. Instead of roots, a small, muddy, and extremely ugly baby popped out of the earth. The leaves were growing right out of his head. He had pale green, mottled skin, and was clearly bawling at the top of his lungs. 

Professor Sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and plunged the Mandrake into it, burying him in dark, damp compost until only the tufted leaves were visible. Professor Sprout dusted off her hands, gave them all the thumbs-up, and removed her own earmuffs. 

“As you can see, the earmuffs are most certainly definitely necessary, so please keep them firmly in place while you work so that I do not have to take any of you to the Hospital Wing,” she said calmly as though she’d just done nothing more exciting than water a begonia. 

Athena grinned and elbowed George in the side. “That would be a new record for you and Thing 2 over there,” She teased with a nod in Fred’s direction. 

Her friend grinned in response. “Or we could give one of these to your fellow Snakes,” He proposed. 

“Psst,” Cora whispered. “Pipe it down, otherwise we’ll never get a chance to pull it off.”

“Yeah, it’s too good of an idea to miss out on,” Fred agreed, earning a wider grin from his twin.”

Professor Sprout tapped her spade against the flower pot once more, abruptly ending the third-years’ conversation. “I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up,” She continued. “Four to a tray — there is a large supply of pots here — compost in the sacks over there — and be careful of the Venemous Tentacula, it’s teething.” 

She gave a sharp slap to a spiky, dark red plant as she spoke, making it draw in the long feelers that had been inching sneakily over her shoulder. Fred and George shared a look, but Athena was quick to stamp on their toes and shake her head harshly. 

“Not today, you idiots,” She hissed under her breath. “Now come on, we need to find a-”

Her face fell as she surveyed the groups, only two of which were incomplete. The first was the pair of Lee Jordan and Alicia Spinnet, the second being Cedric Diggory and Roger Davies. A sigh escaped her mouth while Cora shrugged.

“Well, it’s only today,” She pointed out. “We’ll all work together next time.”

Fred nodded. “Sounds good,” He agreed before making his way over to the other two Gryffindors with Cora, leaving George and Athena to approach Diggory and Davies. “Hey, guys!”

“Hiya, Fred,” Alicia and Lee chorused, smiling at the sight of their housemate. However, their smiles dimmed slightly at the sight of the blonde next to him. “Hi, Crouch.”

Cora nodded to each of them. “Jordan, Spinnet,” She greeted while grabbing an empty pot and a full one from a nearby cart. “How were your holidays?”

The Gryffindors shared an uncomfortable look while Fred gazed at them expectantly. While the bond between the Gryffindors and the two Slytherin girls that Fred and George had befriended had never been all that good, they also knew that Fred and George wouldn’t stand for any bullying towards their friends. So, Lee sucked it up and plastered a smile on his face. 

“It was good,” He replied. “I got a tarantula, as you saw on the train, and spent some time with my Nan's family."

Beside him, Alicia quelled a desperate desire to grimace and faked a similar smile. "I did a lot of Quidditch practice," She explained. "Wood's being an arse already, and the season hasn't even properly begun-" Her words died as she forced herself to change the topic away from Quidditch. The Slytherins already had enough Quidditch Cups under their belts. "How was your holiday?"

Cora shrugged. "It was alright," She admitted. "But the Weasleys were kind enough to let me stay with them for quite a bit of it, so I suppose that made it better."

Fred rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, just a bit," He joked. "You had the time of your life, admit it."

Before his friend could respond, his roommate piped up. "You and George come up with any new pranks?" Lee questioned. 

The redhead grinned. "Lee, mate, I thought you'd know by now that we never run out of pranking inspiration," He teased. "Especially with two of the enemy's members on our side," He jerked his head towards Cora and Athena as he spoke. 

"Mind filling us in on what you've got planned?" Lee wondered with a false innocence glowing on his face. "Might be able to help you out, mate."

To his disappointment, Fred shook his head no. "I think our partnership is best used on the Quidditch pitch," He admitted. "What with your stellar commentary skills and mine and George's dashing talents carrying the team."

Alicia scoffed. "Not a chance, Weasley," Her eyes narrowed. "You know as well as I that without Angelina and I, there'd be no team to play against those slimy snakes." She winced a moment later as Cora's brow quirked questioningly. 

"Last I checked," The blonde drawled, "The only slimy one out of us was the newest Malfoy that joined our ranks. Other than that, we're rather well-groomed."

Lee snickered. "Yeah, your Pureblood pedigree is so impressive, Crouch," He muttered, earning a sharp glare from Fred. "But hey, at least you aren't a git," He amended. 

Cora rolled her eyes at the backhanded compliment, but Fred quickly forced her attention back to her plant before they could turn to a full-blown argument. From that moment on, they tirelessly moved mandrake after mandrake from one pot to the other, glad for the auditory protection Sprout had bestowed upon them whenever they watched the plants' mouths open in inaudible shrieks. Had they not been as effective, Cora knew that Kenneth Towler, the other Gryffindor in their year, would have passed out almost instantly. The boy could hardly stop moving his head, jerking the earmuffs around as he looked back forth and bopped his head to some imaginary tune that played in his mind. 

Across the room, Athena and George were similarly focused on their work. At least, as much as they could be with their usual jokes and fidgeting that accompanied being paired together. Honestly, it was probably a good thing they'd not been in a group with Cora and Fred, for they were sure they'd have earned detention by now. Between Athena's destructive tendencies and George's innate ability to wreak havoc with minimal supplies, it was a wonder that Hogwarts was still standing at all. 

However, Athena couldn't focus on thoughts of mischief for long as Cedric suddenly leaned across the table and began talking very loudly at her. Her eyes narrowed and her ears strained to hear the bronze-haired boy through the earmuffs. 

"How have you been, Burke?" Diggory wondered, a smile of genuine curiosity plastered on his face. "Excited for the term?"

Athena's brows furrowed and she hesitantly shouted back. "I've been fine, thank you." She paused, "And yes, I'm looking forward to this term. And yourself?"

Cedric shrugged. "Could've been better," He admitted. "My dad dragged me to too many Ministry functions in my opinion."

George glared at Cedric slightly. "Got lots of fancy parties to go to, huh? Must be so dreadful," He mocked. 

His friend smirked at the playful jab but said nothing in favor of furthering the insults. Instead, she decided to play nice. "I can sympathize with you on that one," She agreed. "Those bigwigs need to find something else to do with all their free time or nothing productive will get done."

"Did you go to any over the summer?" Cedric asked. 

Athena shook her head. "My parents were busy, visiting Durmstrang to make sure my brother got settled in."

Cedric nodded, remembering the spotlight the Daily Prophet had given the Burke family when it was discovered that their son, Pollux Burke, would not be attending Hogwarts alongside his sister. It had made the front page more than once and had been accompanied with attempted inquiries with Dumbledore as to why he had not done more to persuade the young man into joining. Of course, the professor had refused to comment on the situation, preferring not to deal with the pureblood politics more than he had to when it came to historically Dark families. 

Before he could ponder further, though, Professor Sprout suddenly signaled for the class to wrap up their repotting. Within minutes, the class finished their last round and divested themselves of their protective clothing before turning their attention back to their professor. 

"Now, as it is the first day," She began. "I'll not be assigning much homework. Just read through the first three chapters of your books and bring notes to class for a discussion on Mandrake anatomy and the steps to preparing them for Potions work."

The class groaned, but made no protests as they made their way out of the classroom while the bell signaled the passing period. As they walked out, Fred and George looked at Athena and Cora with wide and pleading eyes. 

The girls exchanged a glance and sighed. “Fine,” They conceded. “We’ll help”

“But in exchange for a week of Charms notes,” Athena decided.

Fred and George grinned. “Deal.”


End file.
